


Artist Impression

by kingcael



Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: Gen, Kinda, Lulu is a complicated person, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 14:32:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7272010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingcael/pseuds/kingcael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lulu liked to watch Auron. How lovely he would be with blood on his lips.</p><p>One sided Lulu/Auron. Set after the encounter with Yunalesca in Zanarkand. I just thought this dynamic was neat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Artist Impression

Lulu enjoyed watching Auron move. His movements were deliberate, and slow, but spoke volumes of frustration and old age.

From what she understood, Auron was only in his mid-thirties, forty at the most, but his face was weathered and his hair was streaked with early silver. She knew well the effects of a failed pilgrimage, and silently appreciated the impact it left on his body.

It was easy to watch him, provided she kept to his blind spot, and her calculating stare was easily disguised within her brooding personality.

Lulu’s interest rose to a new level when the truth shattered around them before the witch Yunalesca. It made her sick to think of that vile woman being Yuna’s namesake, and even more so to see the image of her striking the killing blow against Auron. It certainly was. There was no way someone could survive such a wound.

The rage and pain in his voice, burning behind his two eyes, a fierce inferno roaring towards the woman who had taken everything from him. The pyreflies were vivid in their recollection, and Lulu couldn’t banish the vision from her mind. A frozen image of his body caught in an arc, with blood spilling over his lips and teeth. Red like fire.

Gone. His life was snuffed out in an instant, and those flames only smouldered now. His presence was always insubstantial, like smoke on the breeze. Now it was obvious why.

When he rallied them to fight, his voice became frantic and blazed again. He was encouraging them, but he was also pleading with them.

_Please. Please see the truth._

The truth was evil. Lulu could see that plainly. It hurt, but wasn’t it better to know?

The night after Zanarkand felt like a gift. Nobody was expecting for this night to exist. Especially not in this way. Not with Yuna sitting at her side.

A pain seized Lulu’s heart, and she pressed her lips together, looking over to where Auron sat some distance away. His back was facing the group, and his shoulders slumped. She wondered what his face must look like. The light from the campfire teased over his red robe, and Lulu wished he wore any other colour.

_Blood on his lips._

Lulu looked away, absently smoothing a stray thread from the side of her Moogle doll.

Auron had been exceptionally quiet since Zanarkand. His silence was commonplace, but now she desired to hear him speak, and the silence was unbearable.

Perhaps the memories contained within the dome had shaken him. She understood. How could she not? They had all seen her shaken resolve within Yojimbo’s caves. Seeing her lady as an unreachable ghost… that was the worst part. Apologies and pleadings couldn’t reach the ears of those spectres.

And he had seen the worst moments in his life. His greatest failure. Not that Lulu considered it so- his bravery and tears were to be commended- but he must have felt that way.

His best friends. Men he loved, and it was obvious he loved them. How else could such a tone come into his voice? Shimmering images of them, whole and living. Pyreflies were cruel.

He had banished them, when they became too much, but everyone had heard the crack in his voice as his friends, his family left him.

Lulu couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like to be alone in that broken dome. He must have despaired, and that was too much to share with the others. His memory would stay alone in that place.

Except it didn’t only linger in that place. It was undoubtedly playing over and over in his head where he sat away from the rest of them.

Lulu thought about going to his side, offering some kind of solace. But what could she say? She didn’t truly understand him, and she knew it. Offering empty platitudes would not help either of them.

The others murmured soft goodnights, and crawled into their tents, leaving only Yuna and Lulu at the fireside, and Auron at the edge of the clearing.

Yuna was watching Auron as well, with an uncertain expression. “S- Sir Auron. You should sleep,” Yuna said softly.

He didn’t move.

“Sir Auron?”

“Hm,” he said, and turned his head a bit. “I will keep watch tonight, Yuna. I’m sure you’ve guessed I don’t require sleep.”

Yuna’s cheeks reddened, and her eyes shone. “I- I have. But… if you can… I would like you to. Please.”

Auron sighed, and stood, returning to the fireside. He peeked into the tent he normally shared with Tidus, and found him sprawled out, finally sleeping restfully.

With a shrug, Auron tugged his blanket from underneath Tidus’ legs, and returned to where he was sitting previously, and leaned against the nearby boulder with his arms crossed.

Lulu wondered if he would truly obey Yuna’s request, or if he was pretending to sleep just to placate her.

“Yuna…” Lulu said quietly, keeping her eyes on Auron. His face was lowered down into his collar, and his eyes were closed. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I…” Yuna spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “I want Sir Auron to feel a moment of peace. He’s been in such pain,” Yuna said, folding her hands in her lap. “I felt pain too, seeing my father. But I don’t think it comes close to what he must be feeling.” Yuna trembled, and squeezed her hands. “I don’t know how to comfort him.”

Lulu eased closer to Yuna, wrapped her arm around her, and brushed the bangs from Yuna’s face. She kept her voice low, almost quieter than Yuna’s. “He must feel comfort, knowing you care so.”

“I suspected he was Unsent. But I didn’t know what to say,” Yuna sighed, leaning comfortably against Lulu. “He… changes.”

“What do you mean?” Lulu asked, stroking Yuna’s hair.

“I’ve only seen it happen twice,” Yuna said. “I couldn’t sleep, the night after… Seymour. And I saw him change. He was asleep, and he looked different.”

“Different?”

“Younger. His scar disappeared, and his hair was beautiful black, like yours. He smiled in his sleep, and… He looked so different, I was sure I was dreaming.”

Lulu nodded. That must have been something to do with the pyreflies. Reacting to his dreams. “The second time?”

“Yesterday. Before everyone woke up. I couldn’t sleep because of the Fayth. He was standing by the water, and he looked like he used to. He… he stepped out on the water, and the pyreflies let him walk across it. I think… I think he was looking for my father. I heard him say his name.” Yuna took a deep breath, and placed her hand on the Moogle doll. “He doesn’t feel like he belongs with us.”

Auron made a sudden noise, and Lulu and Yuna both looked over quickly.

His hair had darkened to a midnight black, and his face was softer, smoother. There was no ragged scar carved down his face, and Lulu noticed his lips more than ever. His collar and sunglasses had disappeared, and the rough stubble was gone from his face. He was a different man, silver before the tarnish. Lulu’s heart pounded, and she suspected Yuna’s did too.

Before, Yuna had described him as looking happy, but the man before them was anything but.

He was clearly having a nightmare, and his hands trembled in his lap. His lips were moving, but no sound was distinguishable except one word.

“Braska.”

Yuna was distraught, her wish gone completely awry, and was halfway standing up when Lulu stopped her.

“Wait.” Perhaps it would be better to let him stay in the nightmare. The company of his friends is what he desired, and didn’t Lulu linger in her dreams just to see Chappu once again? Waking was always painful anyway. It worth it to see a beloved’s face again, especially if you could be with them longer than a thought.

“He’s in pain, Lulu!” Yuna cried. “I should help him.”

The sense of that statement crashed around Lulu, and she let go of Yuna at once. Of course. Any reasonable person would want to stop the pain, to clear the sadness and offer comfort. Not revel in it, and admire the sharp contours of a beautiful face in agony. Lulu nodded, and silently cursed herself for thinking Auron was like her, even if he was.

Yuna hurried to Auron’s side, and gently stroked his arm, murmuring words Lulu couldn’t hear from the fireside. Yuna was so gentle, so young and pure. Thoughts of embracing pain could never cross her mind, even as she journeyed to her death. Yuna had rejected that death, as she would reject the pain.

“My Lord?” Auron spoke suddenly, and his hand came to rest on Yuna’s face. His form hovered in his youth for a few moments, barely older than Yuna, and his eyes were deep and dark. He was like a lost child, reclaimed by his mother, and feeling the wonder and relief of safety. 

Yuna held his hand against her face, and spoke words of comfort.

Lulu almost felt it would have been appropriate to avert her gaze, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off Auron’s bright eyes. Usually, his expression was flat, stoic. But now, confusion and fear were burning in his appearance, and his emotions were open and raw. It was a sickening feeling, to feel such elation at his pain.

How exquisite it would be to see a tear.

If there was a tear, Yuna kept it hidden, as she suddenly pulled Auron into an embrace, and he hid his face in her chest. There was a bond between the two of them. A solid link of love. Braska.

Lulu felt like an outsider, never able to truly understand either of them fully, since she had only grown up with the tales of High Summoner Braska. The man was a legend, someone only read about in stories; his life was a myth or fable to keep children behaving. Knowing that man as a person, with likes and dislikes, a certain type of laugh, this was foreign to her.

That man was so dear to them, and not knowing him meant not knowing them.

The pyreflies rearranged in a busy rush, reforming his age in an instant, and he became the tired old man again.

Lulu beckoned the flames higher, and they obscured her view of Yuna and Auron.

She loved the fire, especially when it burned within someone. But she must keep her hands off the flames in Auron’s heart.

They were not hers to touch.


End file.
